Wanke



C. A. AND A. GIEBELER-WANKE.

EYES FOR DOLLS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26. ma

LEIQEYQ. Patented Oct. 21, I919.

cnnrs'roria anonr cinemas-wanna AND Anne erntmnmwenxn, or NEW roan, n. Y.

EYES FOR BOLTS.

aram e.

- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented ct. 21,1919.

Application filed July 26, 1918.. Serial No. 246,867.

5 and State of New York and ANNA Graeme-- WANKE, a citizen of Germany, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city and State of New'York, have jointly invented new and useful Improvements in Eyes for Dolls, of which the following is a specification.

, The present invention relates to improve-- ments in eyes 'for dolls, and particularly such eyes of the sleeping type.

Heretofore, it has been necessary in the manufacture. of dolls, that the eyes be secured in the head by means of wax, cement, glue or the% like, this work being expensive, tedious, and requiring the services of an expert. Furthermore, the work was very often unsatisfactory, inasmuch as the eyes would change their position after being adjusted and before hardening of the wax or other securing means, so that they would not function properly, and the doll would have an unnatural appearance.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved eye construction which will enable the eyes to be inserted in the dolls head without the use of special tools and without employing ,wax, cement, or any such substances, and which will require a .minimum of skill in the insertion, to the end thatrelatively large quantities of dolls may gtxib'e provided with eyes at a considerably re- :duced cost and the eyes will be perfectly positioned'and will operate properly. It is also proposed to provide such eyes which will be self adjusting, so that although there may be irregularities in the heads and variance in the spacing of the eye holes, the eyes ,.can nevertheless be made to fit.

With theseand other objects in view, em-

7 Xbodimentsof our invention are shown in 4:5

bodiments will be hereinafter more fully the accompanying drawings, and these emdescribed with reference thereto, and the invention will be'finally pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a front view of the dolls head, partly in section and partly in elevation,

showing one embodiment of our invention inserted therein.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 2-2'of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional View taken along the line 33'7 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4.- is a top view with parts broken away of a modified form of construction.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view thereof, and

Fig. 6 is a detail view showing the manner of adjusting the eye balls axially.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1 to 3 thereof, the embodiment of our invention disclosed therein comprises a sheet-metal strip 10 provided along its longitudinal edges with side plates 11 and 12 bent backwardly therefrom, the said strip extending considerably above and below the said plates, to form bendable portions for engaging the interior of the frontal -portion of the head, the strip being of a' width adapted to fit the concave surface 13 between the eye holes 14 and 15. The bendable portions of the strip 10, it will be understood, may be shaped to conform to the surface of the head.

A transverse sleeve 16 is secured between the plates 11 and 12, and within the sleeve there is rotatably mounted a spindle shaft 17, upon the ends of which there are slidably disposed eye balls 18 and 19, the said balls being provided with transverse holes 18 and 19" extending therethrough, and which are engaged by the said spindle shaft. These eye balls may be made of glass, wood,

celluloid, or other suitable material, are

ing disposed within the said tubular member between the end of the shaft 22 and the sleeve 16, and exerting an outward force upon the'plate 21. Laterally disposed finger grips 2 4 are provided upon the shaft 22 and these may be engaged by the fingers, the thumb being held upon the strip .10 to force the plate 21 away from the back of the head. In this compressed position the device is inserted in the head and upon release of the plate 21 it tightly en ages the back of the head, the strip 10 eing tightly forced against the frontal portion thereof. The plate 21 and the strip 10 are preferably provided with struck-up pointed portions 25 which frictionally engage the inner surface of the head and prevent displacement of the said plate and strip.

In order that the eyes should properly fit the eye holes, the transverse axes of the eye balls should be'so disposed in relation to the strip 10 that they fit the eye holes in such a manner as to freely rotate therein. And, as the inner surface of .the head varies, especially in hand made heads, it is sometimes necessary to adjust the position of the strip by inserting between the strip and the surface of the head, one or more pieces of felt or other suitable spacing means. In order to illustrate this, we. have shown a piece of felt 26 inserted in Fig. 3, but in Fig. 2 this has been omitted for clearness sake.

A depending weight 27 is supported from the eye balls by wire connections 28 and 29, these connections being secured in the eye balls at the rear and bent beneath the same as at 30, the straight portion of the said wires extending downwardly from a oint beneath the transverse axis of the eye alls. In the upright position of the head the eye .portion'of the ball is visible at the eye openings, the weight 27 engaging thestrip 10 at its lower end. When the head is disposed in a horizontal or reclining position, the weight causes the balls to rotate in the openings so that the lid portion is visible andv the doll appears to be sleeping. In this sleeping position, the wires 28 and 29 engage a stop ar 31 secured to the side plates 11 and. 12 and projecting at each side thereof, as clearly indic'ated in Figs. 1 and 3.

In Figs. 4 and 5 we have illustrated a modified form of construction in which the relation between the strip adaptedto engage the inner surface of the frontal portion of the head is adjustable in respect to the trans verse axes of the eye balls. This embodi ment consists of a strip 32 provided with a pair of screw bolts 33 and 34 upon which there is slidably mounted a plate 35, said bolts engaging openings 36 and 37 of the said plate. Wing nuts 38 and 39 are provided respectively upon the ends of the screw bolts and hold the plate thereon, springs 40 and 41 being disposed upon the said bolts and holding the said plate in engagement with the said nuts. By varying the position ofthe nuts the plate may be moved to or away from" the strip.

A transverse sleeve 42 is secured between the side portions 43 and, 44 of the strip, within which a spindle shaft 45 is rotatably mounted, eye balls being provided upon the spindle shaft in a manner similar to the first embodiment. A tubular member 46 is pivotally mounted upon the sleeve 45, this tubular member corresponding to the tubular member of the first embodiment, and projecting through an opening 35 of the plate 35.

A stop supporting wires 48 in the sleeping position of the eyes, is secured upon the tubular member by means of a band 49 soldered or otherwise secured thereto.

In this embodiment of our invention, the transverse axes of the eye balls, may be accurately adjusted with relation to the strip 32, it being unnecessary in this form to employ felt strips such as shown in Fig. 3, or other such spacing means. both of the nuts 38 and 39 may be adjusted. In Fig. 6 we have illustrated the manner in which the eye balls may be adjusted along their transverse axes. The wires 28 and 29 are preferably of spring metal so that the eye balls will automatically adjust themselves to the eye holes 14 and 15. This feature in connection with the adjustment of the transverse axes with relation to the surface 26 of the head, enables the eye balls to be accurately and automatically adjusted so that they will function properly and will have a life-like appearance. h

We have illustrated and described preferred and satisfactory embodiments of our invention, but it is obvious that changes may be made therein within the spirit and scope thereof as defined in the appended claims.

We claim 1. In combination with a dolls head having eye holes, an eye set comprising means bar 47 for engaging the weight- ,90 Either one or adapted to engage the frontal portion of frontal portion of the head interiorly, means adapted to engage the back of the head interiorly, an extensible connection therebetween, spring means exerting an outward force upon said engaging means, and eye balls adapted to engage said holes.

3. In combination with a dolls head hav ing eye holes, an eye set comprising means adapted to engage the frontal portion of the head interiorly, means adapted to engage the back of the head interiorly, an extensible connection therebetween, spring means exerting an outward force upon said engaging means, means for'compressing said engaging means for engaging or disengaging said eye set from said head.

4. In combination with a dolls' head having eye holes, an eye set comprising means adapted to engage the frontal portion of the head interiorly, means adapted to engage the back of the head interiorly, extensible means therebetween, a spindle shaft extending at each side of said first mentioned engaging means, eyeballs mounted upon the ends of said spindle shaft and rotatably engaging said eye holes, a weighted means connected to said eye balls and adapted to rotate the same in said eye holes as said head is moved from an upright to a reclining position.

, 5. In combination with a dolls head having eyecholes, an eye set comprising means adapted to engage the frontal portion of the head interiorly, means adapted to engage the back of the head interiorly, extensible means therebetween, a spindle shaft extending at each side of said first mentioned engaging means, eye balls mounted upon the ends of saidspindle shaft and rotatably engaging said eye holes, and weighted means connected to said eye balls and adapted to rotate the same in said eye holes as said head is moved from an upright to a reclining position, said first mentioned engaging means constituting a stop for said weighted means in the upright position of said head, and a stop adapted to limit the movement of said weighted means in the reclining position of said head.

6. In combination with a dolls head having eye holes, an eye set comprising means adapted to engage the frontal portion of the head interiorly, a tubular transverse bearing carried by said means, a spindle shaft extending through and at each side of said tubular bearing, eye balls mounted upon the ends of said spindle shaft and rotatably engaging said eye holes, weighted means connected to said eye balls and adapted to rotate the same in said eye holes as said head is moved from an upright to a reclining position, extensible means pivotally mounted upon said tubular bearing and means carried thereby adapted to en gage the back of the head interiorly.

.7. In combination with a dolls head having eye holes, an eye set comprising means adapted to engage the frontal portion of the head interiorly, means adapted to engage the back of the head interiorly, extensible means therebetween, eye balls adapted to engage said holes and means adapted to adjust the transverse axis of said eye balls with relation to said frontal portion of the head.

8. In combination with a dolls head having eye holes, an eye set comprising means adapted to engage the frontal portion of the head interiorly, means adapted to engage the back of the head interiorly, extensible means therebetween, eye balls adapted to engage said holes, and means adapted to adjust the transverse axis of said eyeballs with relation to said means adapted to engage the frontal portion of the head.

9. In combination with a dolls head having eye holes, an eye set comprising means adapted to engage the frontal portion of the head interiorly, means adapted to engage the back of the head interiorly, extensible means therebetween, a spindle shaft extend ing at each side of said first mentioned engaging means, eye balls slidably mounted upon the ends of said spindle shaft and rotatably engaging said eye holes, a spring connection between said eye balls, and weighted means carried thereby adapted to rotate said eye balls in said eye holes, as said head is moved from an upright to a reclining position. v

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our invention we have signed our names hereunder. 

